EDward Gaming lives to fight another day after an all-China match-up against Bilibili Gaming.
The all-China battle was the second series of the day that saw Bilibili Gaming be the latest team to exit VCT Champions 2023 after a 2-1 loss at the hands of their fellow countrymen, EDward Gaming. That win puts EDG into the lower bracket quarterfinals and will live to fight another day. As for BLG, they leave LA in a shared seventh/eighth-place alongside FUT Esports, who lost to Fnatic earlier today.
BLG kicked off the series with their map pick of Bind but it was EDG who displayed instant and total dominance from the start. And this was kickstarted by Wan "CHICHOO" Shunzhi with a clutch on the opening pistol round. From there, EDG went on to win 10 of 12 rounds in the first half with BLG's only noteworthy consolation being the thrifty they won in the 11th round.
And while BLG did manage to win the pistol and subsequent round at the start of the second half, all EDG needed was to win three more rounds to secure the first map and they did so in style. With the second map of Split being EDG's choice, one would have thought they could easily make it another clean sweep. However, BLG had other ideas.
The second map was a tightly-contested match of two halves. In the first, it was BLG who had all the momentum, winning eight of the 12 rounds. This also included some great plays from Wang "whzy" Haozhe on Raze like two three-kill rounds in the second and sixth. However, EDG would once again showcase why they are China's number one seed with a second-half comeback.
Both Yongkang "ZmjjKK" Zheng and Zhang "Smoggy" Zhao managed to secure crucial four-kill rounds in the 14th and 17th respectively. This was the kicker EDG needed to go on a tear in the second half with a five-round win streak. But whzy was not to be outdone as he also had a four-kill round to his name in the 22nd to ensure that BLG did not go out without a fight. Sadly, it wasn't enough as EDG managed to secure the last two rounds to force it into overtime.
And it was whzy once again who turnt up the tempo in the 25th round with another four-kill play to give BLG the advantage. While EDG did manage to take one back, it wasn't enough to hold BLG back for much longer as they would go on to take the next two rounds to secure the second game. And it was Zhong "Biank" Jian Fei who ensured it with his own four-kill sequence.
With Haven being the final map of the series, it was unclear on who would take it. This was EDG's first showing on the map while BLG were 0-2 heading into the final match. And the first half was testemant to that as neither team could gain any real control or momentum. BLG took the first four rounds, which also included a clean pistol round from Lei "yosemite" Wang.
EDG would soon respond with four rounds in a row of their own to tie it up 4-4. Both ZmjjKK and CHICHOO got four kills of their own in the 7th and 10th rounds to ensure the game would be kept interesting right to the very end. The two teams ended up splitting the last four rounds, making it 6-6 heading into the break. EDG started the second in spectacular fashion, getting another four-round win streak under their belt to put them in pole position.
While BLG did try to mount a comeback by taking four rounds, it was not enough to keep EDG at bay. Given the track record between both teams, this was the hardest performacne BLG had put on against EDG and yet, it was still not enough. With that win, EDG will move on into the top six of VCT Champions 2023, which is already the second time they have achieved such a high finish this season.
